deceptive colouring. 
91 
banded in bright colours which extend often to the sides of the basal 
abdominal segments. The same colouring is found, for instance, in Noc- 
tuid Moths of the genera Ophideres, Ophiusa, Hyblcca and Catocala, as 
well as in the Mantidce, a few of the Arctiince , and an exceptional Pyra- 
lid. Some Coreidae also exhibit it and it is probably commoner in cryp¬ 
tically coloured insects than is generally supposed. The commoner Ci¬ 
cadas exhibit it in exceptional beauty, the cryptic colouring being very 
marked and the lower wing very vivid, the flight jerky and in zigzags. 
We are probably correct in concluding that in all these, the insect relies 
on its protective colouring first, but if disturbed, the deceptive colouring 
is brought into play in the sudden quick flight to another tree, when 
cryptic colouring is again predominant. This colouring gives us a glimpse 
into the inner life of insects which is, in its way, instructive. There are 
so many adaptations of this kind in insects that one can realize dimly 
that, always and at all times, they are in danger from birds, from lizards, 
from Asilid flies, from Dragon flies, from Locustids, from Mantids and so 
on. To enable them to escape they have various forms of colouring but 
the mere fact that they are in constant danger of being destroyed shows 
how far their mentality must differ from ours and how constant is the 
working of that balance of life that prevents the undue increase of any 
one species above its fellows. 
Lgcustid m—L ong-horned Grasshoppers. 
The antennas long, many-jointed. The auditory organ on the fore tibia. 
Tarsi four-jointed. The female with a conspicuous ovipositor. 
This family is at once distinguishable fromthe Acridiids by the long 
antennae and the position of the auditory organ; it is less clearly dis- 
Fig. 30—Mecopoda elongata. 
